Portal, épisode 2. Deux ans après avoir lancé ses premiers terminaux de communication dans l’Hexagone, Facebook Meta remet le couvert avec Portal Go. Un appareil qui fait la même promesse que son prédécesseur : il s’agit avant tout d’un terminal de visioconférence, qui vous permet de passer des appels vidéo sur Facebook Messenger et WhatsApp. Mais il offre aussi d’autres fonctions : Portal Go peut servir à afficher vos photos, permet de regarder des vidéos, et fait aussi office d’enceinte connectée Alexa.

What strikes when we compare Portal Go to his ancestor is first of all his design.Finished, the black or white rectangle a little austere, close to the photo frame.Portal Go has been overweight compared to the 2019 model, and now offers a gray fabric coating.That is to say rather successful, and recalls previous products from Google, or the HomePod.

There is a certain minimalism from the point of view of the buttons, with a "start -up" button on the back, another to deactivate micro and camera, and two controls for the volume.That's all.As on the previous version, there is also a physical cache for the webcam.

The screen does not really change.Ten inches, of a definition of 1280 x 800 pixels, tactile (and not responsive, we will come back to it).Its definition is certainly low, but it has at least the merit of being luminous, and to enhance the content which is diffused there.

But above all, why such thickening?Because the device now contains a battery.It can therefore be detached from its wireless loading base, in order to move it as you wish.Meta also integrated a small handle on the back, so that it can easily grasp it.

An ideal battery for video calls

Suffice to say immediately: Portal Go does not provide any new function compared to previous editions.Its interface, recently reshaped, is exactly identical to that of other models.It highlights some of your favorite contacts, some information (time, weather) and a meager selection of applications.

No, it is not an Android tablet.And if he gets closer to connected screens like the Nest Hub or the Amazon Echo Show, Portal Go remains a portal: his ambition is above all to allow you to chat on video with your contacts on Messenger, Whatsapp, orof a few third -party applications available, as zoom.

From this point of view, there is nothing to say, it works really well.The camera (12 Mpix) has been improved compared to that of the model launched in 2019.She benefits from an even wider than before (125 degrees against 103 for Portal).Maintaining a conversation through a portal is pleasant: we take advantage of rather flattering plans without having to hold your smartphone at arm's length.The wide angle camera is also more effective than a simple computer webcam, which generally does not have such a wide field of vision.In addition, the sensor is excellent, and offers good quality images, including when the light conditions are not great.

Meta also took care to add a string of AR filters designed to brighten up your conversations.We are more circumspect regarding their use: they are slow to apply on your face and less well done than those you can use on smartphone.The fault, no doubt, to the (not communicated) processor of the device, whose limited performance is not so suitable for augmented reality.

Portal Go especially corrects a real defect of its elders.Thanks to its battery, the device is no longer confined to a corner of your kitchen or living room.You can move it, including in full phone call, to go from chair to the sofa, enjoy your loved ones on your balcony or terrace ... or simply reposition it, as you wish.

It's very silly, but it changes everything, and we even wonder why Meta hadn't thought about it before.This battery is all the more practical since it holds rather long.You can leave the portal far from its loading base between four and five hours on video, and almost 10 hours according to our tests if you are content with audio content.

Because, this is the other interest of such a battery, it allows Portal Go to act as a nomadic Bluetooth speaker, also SPOTIFY Connect compatible.And its overweight is good: the sound offered by the device is more than honorable, powerful and ample.A good surprise, when you remember the rather mediocre partition of your elder.

A device still as limited

Despite these real progress, it is difficult to recommend this product to you ... for several reasons.Admittedly, it can be useful to bring together physically distant families, giving them a greater feeling of presence during video communication.But first there is an important constraint to have in mind: communicating with a portal is nice ... When his interlocutor also has a portal! The experience is if not disappointing, especially with a smartphone, since we find himselfMost of the time during communication with a small image vertically in the middle of the screen.In fact, if you are the only one to use a portal among your contacts, it is mainly your correspondents who will benefit from it ... not you!Meta is well aware of this concern and regularly offers reduction offers when you buy several devices at the same time.

But frankly, this is not the most important.Portal, like its countless connected screens that we have been able to test over the years, is above all an extremely closed device, which lacks useful functions in everyday life.All served by a sluggish bone and not very ergonomic: it is sometimes necessary to wait several seconds before an app deigns!

So that after a few days of testing, unless you are addicted to the Visio, we sometimes come to forget its existence ... Admittedly, the device is compatible Alexa, and therefore offers the classic functions of a voice assistant (Connected house, listening to radio, cooking recipes, timers, weather, etc.), but the vocal interfaces are far from having proven that they were essential.

Worse, the Portal Go screen is not enough to be used.You can use it as a photo frame, but you will have to be satisfied with your Facebook photos and those of your Instagram profile, that's all.You can add from your smartphone, but it's laborious: you have to download the Portal application, select by hand the shots you want to see, etc..Not practical.

And what about video services, such as Netflix, YouTube, Molotov or MyCanal who could make this device a small extra TV post?They are almost all absent subscribers, for lack of partnership between these tech giants.Yes, it is possible to access YouTube, but you have to go through the browser, integrated into the device, which is slow and not very ergonomic.We will console ourselves with the presence of Facebook Watch (Bof), Plex (which works very well), as well as applications of France.TV, and our neighbors and friends from BFMTV and RMC.But then again, the integration is not incredible, since it is a simple carrying of Android applications ...

In short, Portal's application offer, if it has been a little enriched, remains extremely low.And the integration of new functions, such as calendar support, remains hazardous.Soon, Portal should accommodate a new weight ally: Microsoft, which will include Teams on the platform.What to make a really useful tool for it?